Getty Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker warming up ahead of an NFL game.
The New York Jets are hoping that they have the long-term answer at quarterback on their roster right now.
However, Zach Wilson was benched midseason and upstart Mike White is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. That means at a bare minimum there is a lot of unknown moving forward at the game’s most important position.
Mock Draft Sends Hendon Hooker to the Jets in 2023
Luke Easterling of The Draft Wire released an updated two-round 2023 mock draft this week.
In his projections, he had the Jets swinging the bat at the quarterback position in the second round with the selection of Hendon Hooker out of the Tennessee Football program.
With no other quarterback under contract for next season outside of Zach Wilson, it isn’t a matter of if but rather whom they will add this offseason to the room.
Hooker is a wildly intriguing college prospect who has lit up the stat sheet this season with a 69.6% completion rate, 27 passing touchdowns to just 2 interceptions, and 3,135 passing yards.
He also contributed over 430 rushing yards on the season with an additional 5 touchdowns on the ground.
The reason why the playmaking quarterback would be available so late in the 2023 NFL draft is injury.
Hooker suffered a torn ACL during a loss to South Carolina on November 19. According to Shehan Jeyarajah and Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports, “with such a long-ranging injury, Hooker could be out for his entire first season in the [NFL].”
In the biggest moments of the season, your best players have to provide playmaking ability, confidence, and calm…
Some things that @henhook2 knows a thing or two about.
Hooker even with an injury put together one of the “great seasons” by a quarterback in program history according to CBS Sports. In 11 games this season he ranks fifth best all-time in passing yards for a single season and owns two of the best top-five total touchdown seasons in program history joining names like Peyton Manning.
Prior to joining Tennessee in 2021, Hooker spent three seasons at Virginia Tech. During his entire college career he racked up 8,974 passing yards, 80 passing touchdowns to just 12 interceptions, 2,079 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns.
Hendon Hooker to the Jets Makes Perfect Sense
If the Jets were able to draft Hooker and give him a redshirt season in 2023, that could provide them with a dart throw for the future.
The only major drawback is Hooker is already 24 years old and will be 25 by the start of the 2023 season. If he were to miss his rookie campaign because of the torn ACL he suffered in college, that means he would be 26 by the time he was able to step on an NFL field.
However, age is just a number, and in theory, he’d be a lot more developed than the typical young quarterback that you would select in the draft. Plus it is only a second-round pick and the Jets can afford to make an investment of that caliber.
That would also free up the Jets to make a current decision at the position. Wilson is likely to be on the roster next season in some form or fashion, but he will need at the very least competition added to the roster.
Bringing in an established veteran or possibly re-signing Mike White would help fill out the room.
Whatever happens, this offseason could change the trajectory of the Jets franchise for the next decade.